This section of the News and Media Services department site tracks stories in print and broadcast media that feature Auggie faculty, students, and staff. The area also is home to material developed for University-related programs, events, and more.
On March 6, The Washington Post featured Augsburg second-year Anna Miranda and Stephanie Ruckel, director of strategic enrollment management, in an article exploring the movement towards direct admissions across higher education. Augsburg moved to a direct admissions model as part of its Augsburg Applies to You initiative in 2022, and participates in the state Direct Admissions Minnesota program.
“Getting the [direct admissions] letter kind of knocked down a barrier,” Miranda said in the interview. “It made me feel more confident.” Ruckel noted that direct admissions can be particularly helpful to first-generation students, easing the fear of rejection and encouraging students to ask more probing questions about whether the school is a fit.
Augsburg students Theo Coval and Augusta Nepor Sowa traveled to Utah for the first annual gathering of the Interfaith BRAID (Bridgebuilders Relating Across Interfaith Differences) Fellowship at the end of February.
The BRAID Fellowship is an Interfaith America initiative designed in response to increasing prejudice and polarization. This program equips student fellows with skills, training, education, and experiences to collaborate effectively with communities close to home and across the country.
“It is so meaningful to have the opportunity to work with Interfaith America and meet so many passionate campus leaders,” said Coval. “It was a genuine honor to be included amongst the peers I met in Salt Lake City, and I am very excited to be working on a campus project as part of the fellowship.”
Coval and Sowa were selected from a national pool of applicants. The program is designed to help students become interfaith bridgebuilders on their campuses and in their communities. Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute, serves as a BRAID Fellowship mentor and works closely with these students as well.
“Being part of this opportunity means stepping beyond conversation and into connection, where diversity isn’t just acknowledged but engaged with, where differences aren’t just tolerated but honored,” said Sowa. “It’s about choosing pluralism, embracing the richness of perspectives, and discovering unity in diversity. In a world where everyone wants to be heard, this experience has taught me the true power of listening with an open heart.”Learn more about the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg University.
MPR News and Sahan Journal recently highlighted Nia-Symonne Gayle ’24 and her senior exhibition project “GOOD Hair,” currently displayed in the Christensen Gallery through February 19. Gayle graduated as an art and design major in December, and her capstone project recreates her childhood living room where her mom would do her hair—including TV, magazines, and hair products associated with the Afro-nostalgia Gayle incorporates into her work. She says this project “is a love letter to her mother and to Black people and Black culture. It’s a reminder that all hair is good hair.”
In fall 2025, Augsburg University will welcome the initial students to a first-of-its-kind doctoral program in Minnesota. The Doctor of Medical Science program offers physician assistants/associates (PAs) a pathway to career advancement in health care leadership and administration, research, public policy, academia, and specialized clinical practice.
“Augsburg has a proud history of innovation, from establishing Minnesota’s first PA program in 1994 to now launching the state’s first PA-doctorate program,” said Associate Professor Vanessa Bester, director of Augsburg’s School of at Health. “The Doctor of Medical Science program continues this tradition of excellence, equipping PAs to excel as leaders, educators, scholars, entrepreneurs, and administrators.”
The DMSc degree is an applied doctorate that emphasizes practical, real-world skill development in health care leadership and scholarship. Delivered in a fully asynchronous online format, Augsburg’s DMSc is a four-semester, 16-month program designed for working PAs seeking professional advancement. To be eligible for admission, students must hold a master’s degree in PA studies (MPAS, MSPAS, or equivalent) or a bachelor’s degree plus a minimum of five years practicing as a licensed physician assistant.
“Augsburg’s DMSc program is unique in its whole-person approach,” said DMSc Program Director Diana Soran. “The curriculum prepares students to develop critical leadership, research, and management skills while also aligning their coursework to support career growth. This intentional design prepares graduates for long-term success and fulfillment both professionally and personally.”
Career possibilities for DMSc graduates include director of clinical operations, graduate faculty member, principal investigator, health policy advisor, health startup development, and advanced practice provider in complex or specialized care settings.
“PAs bring a unique and indispensable perspective to health care, bridging gaps in care and fostering collaboration across medical teams,” said Bester. “By integrating health equity, inclusion, and innovation into real-world application, this transformative pathway empowers PAs to drive meaningful change in health care and in our communities.”
In addition to the DMSc, Augsburg offers doctoral degrees in nursing and clinical psychology.
Lindsay Starck has been named a Minnesota Book Award finalist for her second novel, “Monsters We Have Made.” Starck is an associate professor of English and director of Augsburg’s MFA program. Published by Vintage Books/Penguin Random House in March 2024, “Monsters We Have Made” is a poignant and evocative novel that explores the bounds of familial love, the high stakes of parenthood, and the tenuous divide between fiction and reality.
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library organizes the annual Minnesota Book Awards to honor Minnesota writers, illustrators, and artists across 10 different categories. The 2025 Minnesota Book Award winners will be announced on April 22, 2025.
In a January 22 opinion piece published in MinnPost, Augsburg University President Paul C. Pribbenow joined the presidents of 16 other private colleges in advocating for need-based financial aid for all Minnesota students. In it, the presidents argued for greater investment in the Minnesota State Grant program and financial aid fairness for low-income students regardless of where in the state they attend college.
“Public colleges alone cannot solve our social and economic challenges, nor should they be expected to do so,” they wrote. “Private nonprofit colleges serve these same public purposes. To meet its workforce development and social mobility goals, the state needs to increase financial investments in all students with demonstrated need and take full advantage of all of Minnesota’s educational assets—including its stellar private colleges.”
More than 1,000 Augsburg University undergraduate students were named to the 2024 Fall Semester Dean’s List. The Augsburg University Dean’s List recognizes those full-time students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and those part-time students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.75 or higher in a given term.
Amid an urgent need for more support personnel in K-12 schools, Augsburg University is piloting a new program to train the next generation of school social workers and school-based therapists.
“Lots of social work students want to work in education,” says Associate Professor Erin Sugrue, who chairs Augsburg’s social work department. But the requirement to complete at least one year-long internship in a school setting creates a structural hurdle for students who can’t afford to spend a year or more in an unpaid position. As a result, many internship placements in public schools go unfilled each year.
Augsburg’s new program, developed by Sugrue and led by Assistant Professor Christopher Thyberg, aims to support a cohort of students through the critical internship year and ultimately into careers in education. In its first year, 28 undergraduate and master’s social work students are interning as school social workers and school-based mental health providers. Participants receive a monthly living stipend and reimbursement for transportation and licensure expenses thanks to state grant funding.
In addition to financial support, the students gather multiple times a semester to build community and explore key issue areas in education. These sessions have tapped into the expertise of faculty colleagues in Augsburg’s education department, delving into topics like multilingual learners with Assistant Professor Yacoub Aljaffery and special education with Assistant Professor Sergio Madrid-Aranda during the fall semester. Sugrue hopes that this collaboration will lead to more formal partnerships between the education and social work programs in the future, including co-listed classes.
Augsburg participants in the initial cohort are completing internships in K–12 school districts throughout the metro area, including Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Robbinsdale, Rosemount–Apple Valley–Eagan, Champlin, Brooklyn Park, Anoka–Hennepin, Spring Lake Park, Hopkins, Columbia Heights, and charter schools. After graduation, they will be prepared to pursue careers as either school social workers or school-based mental health providers. Both play a key role in supporting students in K-12 settings.
“School social workers serve as the link between family, home, and school,” said Sugrue, who spent more than a decade as a school social worker herself. “They are concerned with students’ overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being.” Typically employees of the school district, school social workers triage many different issues that may arise in a day, including attendance, conflict resolution, and substance use.
School-based mental health providers focus more specifically on students’ mental health concerns. While they deliver counseling and other therapeutic services on-site at school, they are often employed by an outside agency and can bill insurance.
To date, Augsburg has received $411,000 to develop the new cohort model from the state Student Support Personnel Workforce Pipeline grant program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Education. The grant program aims to support students in completing accredited programs and becoming licensed school psychologists, school nurses, school counselors, and school social workers, and to increase the number of student support personnel providers who identify as people of color or Indigenous. A separate $125,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development supports students in the program with a specific interest in becoming school-based mental health providers.
Augsburg University will offer its third annual Interfaith Symposium at 11 a.m. on Thursday, February 27, 2025, featuring visionary civil rights leader Valarie Kaur. The Interfaith Symposium is an annual invitation to students and community members to learn about religious, spiritual, and worldview diversity and connect with exceptional interfaith leaders. This event is free and open to the public.
Kaur’s keynote address, “Revolutionary Love Is the Call of Our Times,” will draw on her work to inspire and equip people to build beloved community through the Revolutionary Love Project she founded. Rooted in the belief that an ethic of love is essential to birthing a healthy, multi-racial democracy and a sustainable planet, the Revolutionary Love Project produces educational tools, training courses, artwork, films, music, and mass mobilizations to empower citizens from all walks of life to harness love as a force for justice.
As a civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, and educator, Kaur has led visionary campaigns to tell untold stories and change policy on issues ranging from hate crimes to digital freedom. A daughter of Punjabi Sikh farmers in California, she lifts up her vision for America in her acclaimed TED Talk and #1 LA Times bestseller, “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love.” She is also the author of “Sage Warrior” and a children’s book, “World of Wonder.”
“Valarie’s message of revolutionary love is critically important at this time,” said Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg. “In particular, I look forward to the ideas she will offer our students to address social justice issues that impact their daily lives through coalition building strategies that she has used throughout her own career as a human rights lawyer and activist.”
Following the keynote address, a luncheon and panel discussion will take place at 12 p.m., featuring conversation with Ted Chen, vice president for equity, culture, and learning, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies; Tamara Gray, founder and chief spirituality officer, Rabata; and Anantanand Rambachan, professor emeritus of religion, St. Olaf College. A limited number of seats will be available for $35. Sign up for the luncheon waiting list through the event registration link.
About Interfaith at Augsburg
Situated in a neighborhood home to numerous immigrant communities and with an increasingly diverse student body, Augsburg University is uniquely positioned to facilitate building bridges in a polarized world. Augsburg’s commitment to interfaith engagement is central to its mission, identified as a key outcome of its strategic plan, and rooted in its Lutheran theological heritage. Through interfaith education and intentional opportunities to strengthen interreligious communication, understanding, and relationships, Augsburg’s Interfaith Institute advances peacebuilding on campus, in the community, and beyond. Learn more at augsburg.edu/interfaith.
Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg University, was interviewed by national media about the devastating fires in Southern California, which have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship in the Los Angeles area.
In a January 11 interview with Religion News Service, Syeed called attention to the long history of interfaith cooperation in Altadena, CA, where religious leaders have banded together to support victims of the fires even as they mourn the loss of sacred spaces.
“They’re helping their own communities, but they’re also stepping up and stepping beyond and helping each other,” she said. “That’s part of the story—faith communities, even when they are damaged, still show up for the broader community.”
Religion News Service published a January 16 column by Syeed highlighting the ways that local youth have led volunteer recovery efforts across faiths, ethnicities, and languages. “[Our teens’] continued service and their steady moral compass make me excited to see the world they will run,” she wrote. “A world in which we don’t need a litmus test on your beliefs before we offer care, where your story is important to share no matter which income bracket you come from. A world in which the measure of our humanity is how much we show up for each other with an embodied empathy that asks, “What do you need, dear friend, who I may not know? Let me be there for you.””
Syeed was also interviewed for a January 17 Sojourners article about calls from local leaders to focus on equity and justice in rebuilding. In it, she lifted up the long-standing interfaith connections in Pasadena and Altadena. “People knew each other in the neighborhood and worked together before the fires,” she said. “What you’re seeing now is an outpouring of those relationships.”
On March 6, The Washington Post featured Augsburg second-year Anna Miranda and Stephanie Ruckel, director of strategic enrollment management, in an article exploring the movement towards direct admissions across higher education. Augsburg moved to a direct admissions model as part of its Augsburg Applies to You initiative in 2022, and participates in the state Direct Admissions Minnesota program.
